Thou Shall Not Kill
by Bloody Words
Summary: Mello hated that Near was first in 'everything', so it pleased him greatly when Near himself started pointing out things that Mello was better at. But things take a startling turn when Near alludes to his current mental state. AU, No Kira. Part of Undoer!verse


**I didn't like the original ending to this, so once I thought of the new one I quickly wrote it. It's not much different, but it connects much better with my Undoer!verse idea.****  
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**I apologize if Mello and Near are out of character. This was my first time writing them.**

**I do not own Death Note.**

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Again it was the monthly 'ranking day' where Near would be dubbed top at Wammy's House and Mello would be burdened with second. That was the way it always went ever since Near had arrived. He hated it; he hated Near. But this time he would not go look at the rankings, to save him the pain, like he had been the past couple months. He would receive the pity of everyone else later.

He was outside, kicking a football around. Multiple times it had hit the metal fence, and the force of his kicks caused explosions of sound. Even though the sound was nothing like it, he pretended that it was actually the sound of Near's bones breaking with each inflicted hit. By now Near would have died from the wounds, he was sure, but with all his pretending, he knew he would never actually kill Near, no matter how much he wanted to. Badly maim, yes, but never murder.

Mello was too concentrated on letting out his anger, that he didn't notice Near watching him from the side. The white haired boy twisted his hair, content from just watching Mello. In his free hand, he clutched a paper. He watched Mello in silence for about five minutes. He broke his silence not long after a particularly hard kick.

"Mello seems to be upset." Near stated, catching Mello's attention. The blond glared at him, and kicked the football fast towards where Near was standing. He would have gotten hit had he not shown that in moments of peril, he could move pretty fast. In his moving, he dropped the piece of paper he was holding.

Now provoked, Mello stalked over, his fists in a clench. When he got to Near he immediately punched him in the gut, causing the younger boy to collapse. But he didn't cry out or whine, being the kind of person he was. He simply held his stomach and looked up at Mello, who now wore a smirk.

"I seem upset? I can say very well that I am very pissed off." Mello said, stomping on the hand that Near was using to keep himself up. "In the American way if you're not smart enough to tell." His smile then fell and he continued his rant. "But you are smart enough right? You're top at frickin' Wammy's House for Gifted Orphans. And what am I? Second!" He put more weight on Near's hand, wanting at least to see a look of pain cross his face.

"But you're better than me at everything else, aren't you?" If Mello did not know better, he would have thought he had seen sadness appear briefly in Near's dull, grey eyes. He removed his boot from Near's hand, which the white haired boy immediately started flexing, making sure it still worked.

"What do you mean by that?"

Near pulled himself up, and once again held his stomach. Maybe Mello had hit it just a bit too hard.

"You're popular and have many friends. I'm very hated by almost everyone who meets me, and because of that I don't have any at all. My fault really, for being so cold, as well as socially defunct. Should I continue?"

"Please do." Mello said, his smirk returning. This was one of the best things that could ever happen. Near admitting that he wasn't the best! Not that he had ever really proclaimed it..

"Hmm. Well you also have a much better sense of humour. I believe the last time I cracked anything close to a joke, it was by accident. As well, you are much stronger than me physically, mentally, emotionally for sure, and..." He paused a moment. "Spiritually. Also, I believe that it would take far too much time to list all the other reasons."

"You don't need to. I get it. And speaking of being stronger than you." He kicked Near in the shin, and yet pain still didn't cross his face.

"There is one thing I'd like to add." He started to twirl his hair, but then realized that it was his damaged hand he was using and stopped. "I can say that you Mello are definitely better than me, the twit Near, because despite everything, you wouldn't kill a human in any way without feeling some level of regret."

Mello was a bit startled. He was pretty sure Near had just implied he would kill a human without a second thought, but it didn't seem like him. Obviously he didn't know the boy well enough. Not that he really wanted to know more about him.

"So you could kill someone and wouldn't care?" As an after thought he added, "It's looks like this place will produce yet another serial killer." That would put up the number of killers produced at Wammy's House to three. "So we should start seeing dead animals all over the place then right? Since that's a clear sign of a future serial killer."

If Near was offended by being accused of being a future serial killer, he didn't show it, but he did state his disagreement with Mello's last comment.

"I wouldn't hurt an animal. I like them, mostly cats though." He started flexing his hand again. "And I think you took my comment the wrong way. I admit I could have worded it a different way. I meant that I can 'kill' a person, just without causing their actual death, and not feel regret. But I think now that I could cause the death of a person, or at least let it happen, without much regret. It's just the way I am."

Mello didn't know what to say, but he knew for certain that Near was not wired correctly. He took a few deep breaths, trying to keep himself a bit calm. He thought of many retorts that he could use, but before he could use any of them, Near spoke once again.

"Mello, what would you do if I died? I'm sure your reactions would be different than they would be for anyone else."

Mello didn't have to think long on the answer. He flicked Near on the nose, just because he could and answered honestly.

"It depends on how you died really. If it was your own stupidity, I'd laugh about it for the rest of my life. If you were murdered, which I believe has an extreme chance of happening, I'd track down your killer, take him or her out to dinner or the bar, and then turn them in. If you died in some accident that involved at least one other person, I'd pay for the medical bills – or the funeral bills if it was that bad – and give a bit extra." Mello could have gone on the rest of the day, because he often imagined ways that Near could die, in an attempt not to actually kill him, but Near skipped to one he had never thought of.

"What if I killed myself?"

This question struck Mello hard. His mother had killed herself, so suicide was a touchy subject with him. Everyone knew that one fact about his previous life. He wanted to slap Near for making such a comment, because he was sure that he had said that just so the poisonous memories would surface. But then he actually thought it over.

"If you killed yourself...I'd hate you forever. It's not just because of my faith, or my mother, but suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary situation!" He clenched his fists, and held one up in front of Near's face. "And if you are thinking of killing yourself, and I can't imagine why you would want too, don't ever do it dammit!" He then punched Near in the face.

Blood spilled down Near's chin and onto his white clothing. He immediately tried to stop his bleeding nose. Mello could tell that he had not broken it, and even if he had he would not of cared.

"That's for even bringing up the subject of suicide." Mello was about to go back inside and leave Near to his nosebleed, when he noticed the paper that Near had been holding onto. Out of curiosity, he decided to see what was written on it. Immediately he saw that it was the ranking scores. He was about to toss it away when he noticed something very strange and shocking. The rankings were very different from when he last saw them.

1. Mello

2. Matt

3. Linda

4. Orion

5. Near

He was top at Wammy's House. Near must have come to tell him that, or maybe he had not. Mello did not care. He was better than Near in everything now! Then it finally dawned on him that in three months, Near had went from the first to the fifth. What was that about?

"Congratulations Mello. You've finally beat me." Near commented, before getting up and running off, holding his bleeding nose with his shirt. Mello just stood there, thinking everything over. But while he could think of a few logical answers for everything, he did not want them to be true, despite his hate for Near.

He later went to Roger about it, who told him that Near had simply been neglecting his studies for a few months, but had still done well enough to stay at the top, until a month ago when he started doing very badly. Roger had no explanation why, and neither did any of the caretakers he asked.

He would have done a bit more searching, even going as far as to ask Near himself, but he was greatly distracted by the announcement that in light of Near's recent academic crash, L had chosen him as the one who would success him. And because of that, he was going to solve cases with L so he could gain experience. He left only a day after he found out the news, dragging Matt along with him because he had given L the excuse that he would later need a 'Watari' of his own. He really didn't think about Near again until a few days later, and by then he was sure that it was too late to really do anything.

He knew that he could have asked L or Watari to check to see how Near was doing, but found that he didn't have the will to do so. He just prayed to God that Near's 'what if' really was a 'what if'

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It was eight years later that Mello, now working alone, found similarities between seemingly unconnected murders. All the killers had killed themselves exactly a month after being sent to prison. All just happened to be female. It didn't seem like much, but Mello knew they were connected.

And when Near got off the phone with Matt, the terrified and blackmailed man having told him that Mello had found the connection, he smirked, and twirled his hair.

"And so the game starts Mero. Who will be the loser?"

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**Near's side of the story shall be told in another Undoer!Verse story.**


End file.
